If a picture paints a thousand words...

Then the following picture needs no caption:




(Note: Yes, that's Sylvane and Hanif during Palany's wedding dinner in Penang.)

On another note, I apologise for the lack of updates. So many things have happened in the past month that I absolutely had no time to blog. Or rather, I was so tired out / sick / outstation at the time that the last thing on my mind was to compile all my photos and think of something witty to say.

Normal services should resume from henceforth.

Random attempts at art...

Those of you who've known me for a bit longer than 10 years may recall that I used to draw a lot in my free time (and during classes - and on my textbooks). But alas, my artistic talents are fairly limited (more cartoony than realistic) and thus my dreams of becoming a professional cartoonist evaporated soon before my schooling days were over.

But I enjoy drawing comics, it's a really great way to express oneself and it also happens to be a lot of fun. So here it is - my first comic strip in over 10 years:

(Click on image to enlarge)

Note: Yes, I realise that cows aren't male... -_-

What is Hokkien Mee?

Forged in the fires of hell...

...but tastes like heaven.

And enjoyed by Singaporeans crossing the border (and also one particular Malaysian living there who misses the food here, which is much much MUCH better by the way)

Yum... ^_^

Home RUN!!!

A day after Deepavali, we decided to celebrate the Indian festival of lights by batting the shit out of some balls at the new Baseball thingy in 1 Utama.

It's a bit hard to find - you need to go to the elevators near Parkson (1 Utama new wing) and get to the upper roof, where you'll see something like a miniature driving range.

Elaine: "Mmmm... Big stick... I like!"

A few packages are available - we chose the "Home run" package for RM45, which gives you an unlimited number of balls to hit for 30 minutes. And with that, we headed for the batting cages.

This is the panel that controls the ball-launcher thingy. Select between 40MPH to 70MPH balls, press "baseball", wait for red light to come on and watch in horror as a yellow ball comes flying towards you.


Being the one who studied in America and is most in-tune with popular all-American sports, Alex shows us how it's done.

Well, erm... sort of

At first, we found it incredibly difficult to hit the balls but after a few tries, it gets easier. It's also real important that you set the height of the ball (via the control panel), otherwise you'd end up missing a whole lot of balls. Like this, actually:

Aloy steps up to the plate

Ack! Too low...


The other thing we learnt that day is that baseball can be a very painful sport. The massive shock/vibrations sent up through the bat and into your arms is enough to make it hurt. Kinda like tennis elbow, only whilst not playing tennis.

But it's not like we sucked (*really!*), after some time, all of us started to get the hang of it:

Elaine steps up to the plate

The evil yellow ball launches towards her...

CRACK!

Strangely enough, I found myself more comfortable batting left-handed. Probably because I'm more used to backhand motions (i.e. slapping people with the back of my right hand).

Kinda like a wife beater, actually ("Hic, where's my beer??? I take out my belt then you know!!!")

Hmmm... I need a haircut

Lousy hair style or not, it didn't stop me from getting the job done:

CRACK!

Needless to say, it was a blast. I think I'll be spending lots of lunch hours here in the future...

TWO THUMBS UP!!! ^_^

Basketball!!!

Been meaning to put this up for a week, but kept procrastinating. It's BASKETBALL AT SPORTSBARN.

This is Dennis beginning a drive to the basket. This is normally very bad news for the opposition.

For the past couple of months or so, we've been playing basketball about twice a week. A pretty nice group, this - competitive, yet sporting enough to have fun.

On this particular occasion, I couldn't make it (sis' birthday) but could catch the tail end of it. Decided to pack my camera along.

Charles swatting one away

It's bloody hard to shoot inside with Charles in the middle -- one minute you're open, and then this really long arm descends from the heavens and gently whacks the ball out of your hands.

Say Hong getting personal with Dennis -_-

The thing about playing basketball is that - unless you've got a film crew following you around, chances are you have no idea what you look like while you're playing (i.e. whether you look cool or awkward).

Andrew launching one of his wonder shots. As in, "I wonder why the hell it goes in all the time...?"

I guess the best part about all this is that it's also good for your health. Exercise is good. Yes it is. Yes. Right.

Nigel showboating

I took this shot with a slow shutter speed and tracked the camera on Nigel - this allows me to keep Nigel relatively sharp while blurring out the background. And yes, this looks better on film than it does in real life. (P.S: Don't burn my house down. Please.)

This is Charles. Say hi to Charles.

After the game, we're all hot and sweaty from all that action. Erm... yeah. And thirsty too.

Andrew with a very gay Nigel snuggling up to him...

Right. Next picture:

And the best part of bball, the mamak sessions after... :)

Thus ends the photo essay. I'm sleepy and hungry. And you should be too.

The terror continues...

Not much of an update, but:




Hur hur hur... :)

Beef is back!

Excellent news, this.

You may not have known this but - for some years, now - Bovril has been beef-free.

Yes, that fantasticly sticky and tasty beef extract was reformulated some time in 2004 to cater to the growing needs of people who, for some reason or other, didn't want beef in their Bovril.

For the past two years, Bovril has been a yeast-extract; just like that other foul tasting savoury paste (that would be Marmite). So yes, the glorious Bovril was reduced to a shadow of its former self. A poor man's Marmite. A beef-flavoured food product for vegeterians.

But personally, I thought it tasted the same - never knew the beef was taken away until someone pointed it out.

Similarly, I didn't know that the Bovril guys are putting back beef into the black stuff until Kit pointed it out. And he had pointed this out simply because I've become addicted to Bovril this past couple of weeks, which - I believe - spurred him to do a bit of research.

Bovril: as good as gold

Did you know that Bovril was devised as a weapon by the French to fight the Germans during some war in the 19th century? Neither did I.

So I guess the point I'm trying to say is, umm... it's good to have beef back in Bovril.

Yes, it is.

Pool: two thumbs up!

It's official - pool is the coolest sport in the world. After all, it's the only game that allows you to mimic a sniper hunting down some hapless balls on a velvet table. It transforms even the most awkward, clumsy, fat bastard into a real man.

Me shooting some pool. Very cool, no?

You see? Just by holding a cue up to your chin, you too can instantly transform into a suave something or other.

This is Aloy. He thinks he is cool. Yes, he does.

Of course, it's even better if you're dressed like a waiter - it makes you look even more professional. And a lot cooler too. Observe:

This is Hanif. Yes, he's cool too. Really.

And it's even more more better if you try some trick shots. Doesn't matter if it works or not - as long as you look cool, you will be cool. For example:

This is an attempted screw ball. It is cool.

But it is not enough that it's cool. We must show appreciation for this. And because of this, I give pool two thumbs up (my highest award, given to fine examples of being cool).

Aloy bending over at table. This is cool. Hence, we give it two thumbs up.


Two thumbs up for Hanif too, because he is very cool.

Aloy racking some balls. This is cool. So we give two thumbs up.

The best part is, the coolness you obtain from playing pool carries on to the rest of your life. You become coolness itself.

Falling asleep later at the mamak. But it's also cool, so we give it two thumbs up also.


On the right, we have the photographer who naively thought that she managed to escape the whole night without having her picture taken.


TWO THUMBS UP!!!

Ok, that's enough cheese for now. Back to work!!!

Awesome Thai beer ads

Got wind of this ad from Elaine (thanks!) Had me in stitches for quite a while.

Sliding tofu sellers...

In an rather refreshing turn of events, I ended up at a race track last night, watching some people whose cars seemed to be facing the wrong direction whenever they entered a corner:

"Look! It's that guy from Initial D!!!"

The starting grid. It's a grid. Cars start on it. Yes, they do.

Yup, it was a drifting event. Organised by Angle D5, it's a Saturday night event held at the PLUS speedway near the USJ toll plaza. We discovered it by accident, though - it was near Warren's house and we can hear the noise at the track from there. So, we decided to have a look.

That's me

Some old Toyota hatchback with a helluva good drifter behind the wheel...

What struck me about the event was the variety in the types of cars used - there were both brand new cars as well as crummy old 1970s Japanese sedans (and most of the better drifters seem to prefer the latter). The audience was pretty diverse too, with Malays, Chinese and Indians freely mixing together, both youngsters and even entire families with baby prams and stuff...

A Skyline R33 - presumably, the owner is affluent enough to risk pranging it.

"Oi! Why got traffic jam???"

An old-ish Skyline R32. Looks completely shagged

We spent about 2 hours looking at these cars go round and round the track, laying about a few tonnes of rubber into it. It seemed fairly well-organised too - with bilingual deejays, track marshalls, ambulances on standby and pretty girls with ultra-tight tops prancing around the main entrance.

Of course, after you pay the RM5 entrance fee, you'll walk in only to find that there aren't anymore big-breasted women inside (apart from some visitors, of course). Darn.

A Nissan Skyline R32 and a Nissan 180SX - crummy old cars, but excellent for drifting!

A participant from Singapore. Can't wait to see his tow-truck bill...

And there you have it. Apparently, they've got another event on Merdeka eve, which - coincidentally - is exactly a year since I've started blogging. I think I'll be there... ^_^

Silly Microsoft Word... :)

One of my cranky old lecturers in university once ranted about how Microsoft is trying to change the way we speak English, by enforcing its grammatical rules on our documents through spell-checkers, autocorrect tools and other functions spawned by Satan himself.

Now, I think I believe him - Microsoft doesn't seem to know proper English either. Please click on the following screenshots for a closer look:


In this screenshot, it tells me that the word "bulletproof" is wrong (underlined in red). Rather, it should be written as "bullet-proof". Fine, I make the changes suggested by the all-knowing word processor.

But then, I get this:



Now it tells me that the word "bullet-proof" is grammatically wrong (underlined in green), and I should write it as "bulletproof" instead.


Classic.

Belum Temenggor National Park

Holy Cow...


Didn't realise how busy I've been - haven't updated this blog for over half a month! And to make matters worse, I've not even finished uploading all my Japan trip photos and I've already gone on another two.

This is the first one.

It was a trip organised by Sony Malaysia, Click! magazine, the Malaysia Nature Society and the education ministry. I won't go into details, but let's just say it's a rare opportunity.

Temengggor Lake

Temenggor Lake is an artificial lake created after the Temenggor dam was erected in the late 1970's, flooding the area with water from various rivers in Perak. This resulted in a huge lake that's over 100km square, over a hundred tiny 'new' islands, the destruction of countless flora (such as the raffelsia) and the displacement of people and animals.

An ex-tree poking out of the water.

The good news, though, is that the whole area is now a protected forest reserve. Which is good because there are a countless number of animal and plant species - some of which are native only to Temenggor forest. Such as one particular species of Malayan tiger, of which the exact name has eluded me.

There are an estimated 600 tigers left in peninsular Malaysia, compared to over 3,000 in the 1950s. With conservation efforts in place, it is hoped that the Malayan Tiger population will grow.

Me and Calvin Goh directly above the former Kampung Temenggor. (Pic courtesy of Mr. Allan from Click!)

The local guides claim that you can take a dive into the lake and see the old buildings - mosques, houses and schools - of Temenggor village, one of the villages and settlements that were flooded by the lake.

Of particular interest are the Orang Asli (natives) in the area, who had to adapt to island life all of the sudden.

Me at a Temiang Orang Asli settlement

The Orang Asli here are of the Temiang race. I don't know much about them, other than the fact that they didn't seem very pleased to see us - mostly because we forgot to bring gifts.

It's not that they're materialistic or anything - rather, it's a custom to bring gifts when visiting someone. So yes, we were being rather rude, which prompted some people in the group to sacrifice boxes of cigarettes, sweets and some money.

Middle-aged orang asli woman

The Orang Asli have really beautiful facial features, even with age.

Tough-looking hunter taking a break from polishing his blowpipe. Ok... that sounds wrong

If this dude looks strong, it's because he is. He claims to habitually hunt all manner of wildlife for food and he can hit a target over 240 feet away with his blowpipe. So no, he's not the sort of person you'd want to piss off. Ever.

The wall of an orang asli house. It's made of something.

View of the islands from the lake. That's haze, by the way...


The trip to the settlement was part of a tour of the lake, which offered a fantastic view. Malaysia is truly one of the most beautiful countries in the world - it's a shame most of us don't bother looking.


Pulau Pendidikan - a fairly long drop if you miss a step. The living quarters are at the top of this cliff.


We stayed at one of the many islands - Pulau Pendidikan. It's basically a facility made by the government to conduct talks and to educate the public on wildlife conservation. Nothing much to shout about, although the cook is fantastic - he makes some of the best grilled fish and mutton I've ever tasted!

Sunset at the jetty

The view here is fantastic, although the sunset on the day before was even better - looking just like the rising sun of Japan. Problem is, I missed it - walked down to the jetty without my camera. It would've taken 5 minutes to hike up the hill again, retrieve my camera and get back down, and the sunset would've been over by then. At least I saw it with my own eyes, which is the whole point, really... :)

Jungle ants/termites carrying bits of wood/stones to some other location. No, I haven't got a clue what they're doing.

While Temenggor is literally packed with all manner of exotic wildlife, Pulau Pendidikan itself is relatively fauna free. It's a small island, so there's no way an elephant or tiger would survive, although there are flying foxes, gibbons and ants.

Dead photographers: buoyant

Generally, I had a great time - thanks to the fantastic company of the Click! guys. It's always nice to spend some time with like-minded people who share a common hobby.

For more information about Belum Temenggor:

Link to Belum Tours